Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

Read the latest articles of Journal of Environmental Radioactivity at ScienceDirect, Elsevier's leading platform of peer-reviewed scholarly literature

A comprehensive review of radioactive pollution treatment …

Due to the nuclear energy boom, most uranium-producing countries have maintained a high level of uranium ore mining. Natural uranium, which serves as the "breadbasket of nuclear power" and has a very high energy density (as shown in Fig. 1), is a resource that is required to sustain the use of clean nuclear energy (Abdelouas and …

Alpha radiation from polymetallic nodules and potential …

Many recent scientific studies have focused on the environmental impacts of future deep-sea mining at the deep seafloor 6,7 while we present and discuss here the legal relevance of radioactive ...

An Assessment of Radiological Hazards from Gold Mine …

The environment around us always contains small amounts of Natural Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORMs), which have existed since the formation of the earth. ... A major concern comes when the levels are elevated as a result of human practices like mining or natural hazards like earth quakes . In nature, mining involves …

PRACTICAL RADIATION TECHNICAL MANUAL

Occupational exposure to ionizing radiation can occur in a range of industries, such as mining and milling; medical institutions; educational and research establishments; and nuclear fuel facilities. Adequate radiation protection of workers is essential for the safe and acceptable use of radiation, radioactive materials and nuclear energy.

Radionuclide Basics: Thorium | US EPA

Thorium (chemical symbol Th) is a naturally occurring radioactive metal found at trace levels in soil, rocks, water, plants and animals. Thorium is solid under normal conditions. There are natural and man-made forms of thorium, all of which are radioactive. ... However, people who live near thorium mining areas or near certain legacy industrial ...

Calculation guide mining. Calculation guide for the …

The present ''Calculation Guide Mining'' serves to determine mining-caused radiation exposure of members of the public and of workers. It is applicable for the use, decommissioning, remediation, and reuse of mining plants and installations as well as for the use, remediation, and reuse of land contaminated as a result of mining plants …

Florida may study use of radioactive waste in building roads

Florida has 24 such stacks, totaling about 1 billion tons of phosphogypsum, with 30 million new tons generated every year through the phosphate fertilizer mining industry. The EPA in 2020 approved the use of phosphogypsum in government road construction projects but reversed its decision after Democratic President Joe Biden …

Radioactive Waste Material From Oil and Gas Drilling

Naturally radioactive materials that are brought to the surface and concentrated by industrial processes are called Technologically Enhanced Naturally-Occurring Radioactive Material (TENORM). ... Never handle, dispose of or re-use abandoned equipment used at these sites. Do not go near abandoned oil and gas …

Radionuclide Basics: Uranium | US EPA

It gives off almost half of the radioactivity from all forms of uranium found in the environment. The U.S. mining industry can retrieve uranium in two ways. The first is to mine rock that contains uranium. The second is to use strong chemicals to dissolve uranium from underground rocks into ground water, and then pump the water to the surface.

PRACTICAL RADIATION TECHNICAL MANUAL

Occupational exposure to ionizing radiation can occur in a range of industries, such as mining and milling; medical institutions; educational and research establishments; and …

Mining treatment effects on natural radioactivity and …

Activities of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K contained in phosphate ores and granular fertilizer samples were determined using two different gamma-ray spectrometry detectors. The influence of treatment processes on the radioactivity in phosphates mine in each mining step in the dry and wet process were evaluated. Total absorbed dose rates in air and …

Thorium's Long-Term Potential in Nuclear Energy: New IAEA …

Thorium is a silvery, slightly radioactive metal commonly found in igneous rocks and heavy mineral sands. It was named after Thor, the god of thunder in Norse mythology. It is three to four times more abundant in nature than uranium but historically has found little use in industry or power generation. This is partly because thorium in …

Radionuclide Basics: Uranium | US EPA

It gives off almost half of the radioactivity from all forms of uranium found in the environment. The U.S. mining industry can retrieve uranium in two ways. The first is …

What are the radioactive minerals currently being mined?

However, uranium mining continues to pose a legal problem for many countries; the US Supreme Court is currently considering reversing a long-standing ban on uranium mining in the state of ia due to uncertainties of definitions of federal-owned and state-owned land.. The uranium extraction process also poses a significant health …

Not So "Green" Technology: The Complicated Legacy of Rare Earth Mining

For every ton of rare earth produced, the mining process yields 13kg of dust, 9,600-12,000 cubic meters of waste gas, 75 cubic meters of wastewater, and one ton of radioactive residue. This stems from the fact that rare earth element ores have metals that, when mixed with leaching pond chemicals, contaminate air, water, and soil.

Radioactive Waste From Uranium Mining and Milling | US EPA

Uranium is a naturally-occurring radioactive element that has been mined and used for its chemical properties for more than a thousand years. It is now primarily used as fuel for nuclear reactors that make electricity. Uranium can be recovered in two ways: by conventional mining of the rock (ore), or by using strong chemicals to dissolve uranium …

Rare Earth Underground Mining Evaluations with Respect to Radioactivity

Environmental impacts, legislation issues and the presence of radioactive pollutants are some of the notable boundary conditions that govern rare earth mining operations and need to be taken into ...

Assessment of environmental radioactivity at uranium mining…

External gamma radiation dose rates around the uranium-mining complex are monitored using micro-R survey meters (Nucleonix UR705). Atmospheric radon (222 Rn) is monitored using a low-level radon detection system, which is an electro-deposition passive radon monitoring system (GK Srivastava et al., 1984). In this technique the …

Boom in Mining Rare Earths Poses Mounting …

The mining of rare earth metals, used in everything from smart phones to wind turbines, has long been dominated by China. But as mining of these key elements spreads to countries like Malaysia and …

Radiological contaminants in water: pollution, health risk, …

Seepage of radioactive pollutants into the groundwater from excessive fertilization of agricultural land, thermonuclear testing, or nuclear power plants, mining sites, nuclear accidents, radioactive waste dumping, nuclear explorations, use of radioisotopes in industry, scientific laboratories, medical industries, satellite losses, and …

Guidance about radiation safety on mining operations

Includes cosmic rays from outer space, gamma radiation from uranium, thorium, and potassium in the ground, radon gas in the air, and radioactive elements in our food and …

Full article: Natural radioactivity in food crops and soil and

Studies on environmental radioactivity in the tin mining regions of the Jos Plateau in Nigeria reveal gamma radiation dose rates significantly surpassing the global average value [Citation 18, Citation 19]. Moreover, elevated radioactivity levels exceeding established thresholds in food crops, ...

Preliminary assessment of natural radioactivity and …

Introduction Because of the increasing use of phosphate in industries worldwide, especially in Togo, it is interesting to investigate the potential radioactivity exposure of phosphate ores, especially in the one being exploring in Togo nowadays. Material and methods The contents of natural radionuclides (40K, 226Ra, 232Th, 235U …

The importance of radioactivity in geoscience and mining

Almost simultaneously with Roentgen rays, natural radioactivity was discovered. Its investigation led to important fundamentals of the geosciences: petrophysics, terrestrial heat flow, isotope geology, and absolute geological chronology. In applied geophysics and geology, exploration of radioactive ores and of tectonic faults, …

Florida bill allowing radioactive roads made of potentially …

Florida governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis signed a bill Thursday that would allow for roads across Florida to be made with "radioactive" mining waste that has been linked to cancer.

What is Uranium? | IAEA

There are three natural isotopes of uranium — uranium-234 (U-234), uranium-235 (U-235) and uranium-238 (U-238). U-238 is the most common one, accounting for around 99 per cent of natural uranium found on earth. Most nuclear reactors use fuels containing U-235, however, natural uranium typically contains only 0.72 per cent of U …

Potential Human Health Effects of Uranium Mining, …

Many of the findings related to occupational exposures and adverse health outcomes presented in this chapter are based on studies of uranium and hard-rock miners (e.g., worker-based radon studies) for periods of disease risk when the magnitude of the exposures was much greater than the exposures reported at most mines and processing …